Our Newsletter

Pediatric Neuroimaging, Cognitive Development and Genetics

This multi-site, cross-sectional study with typically developing children aims to explore the genetic basis of individual differences in brain structure and cognition. As part of this study, we collected brain images, neurocognitive data and saliva samples from all participants. Data collected as part of this study is collated with data from eight other sites, with the intention of creating a database with which the scientific community can further investigate how genetic variations might contribute to or alter brain and cognitive development.

The PING Data Resource is the product of a multi-site project involving developmental researchers across the United States including UC San Diego; the University of Hawaii; UC Los Angeles; Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles of the University of Southern California; UC Davis: Kennedy Krieger Institute of Johns Hopkins University: Sackler Institute of Cornell University; University of Massachusetts; Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard University; and Yale University.

The Data Resource includes neurodevelopmental histories, information about developing mental and emotional functions, multimodal brain imaging data, and genotypes for well over 1000 children and adolescents between the ages of 3 and 20.

The data are available to members of the research community after submission of data use requests, agreement to the data use policies, and registration.

PING investigators have produced and released these data with the conviction that sharing and collaboration within large-scale studies such as this can lead to critically important results that are needed to address and mitigate many problems that affect children, including mental disorders, addictions, academic problems, and learning disabilities.